


Chats, Children, and Cappuccinos

by VioletTeaTime



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Adorable Cisco Ramon, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Cisco is like 24, Grumpy Earth-2 Harrison "Harry" Wells, Harry is early thirties, He's just a big ol' grump, M/M, idiots to lovers, jesse is real little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24137707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VioletTeaTime/pseuds/VioletTeaTime
Summary: It takes a while for Harry to get used to the cute new barista at Jitters.-a coffee shop au
Relationships: Caitlin Snow/Iris West, Cisco Ramon/Earth-2 Harrison "Harry" Wells, Julian Albert/Barry Allen, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 60





	Chats, Children, and Cappuccinos

**Author's Note:**

> fuck i love these two  
> ive changed the ages!!! caitlin, barry and cisco are still in university, julian is a new csi, and iris has been with picture news for just under two years, as her diploma didn't take as long as all of the science nerds. harry is in his early thirties and jesse is like six-ish.

Jitters had been his favourite coffee place since Harrison had moved to Central City. Dunkin Donuts was always too loud for him to want to sit in, and Starbucks got a bit expensive for a man who's main sources of income were from teaching high school physics and having a few published scientific papers. So Jitters became his little sanctuary. The staff was nice, mostly sweet university students who didn't mind him hogging up the corner table for his marking. Harrison was proud to say he knew a few of the workers by name, Barry was a polite, albeit hyperactive, young man studying to be a CSI who would slip Harrison baked goods that he had made from the ends of batches, strange concoctions that were always as good as they were surprising. The other employee Harrison felt like he knew well, Caitlin, had taken a liking to Jesse, the ginger studying to become a pediatrician and fawning over his little girl. 

Harrison pulled open the heavy door, the cold wind morphing into comfortable warmth as he entered the building. He waved at Barry as he walked to his regular table, setting down his laptop bag and peeling his slightly wet windbreaker off, leaning it over the edge of one of the chairs. He wiped his hands on the front of his jeans before making his way over to the counter. 

Behind it stood Barry, a girl who Harrison thought may have been named Sadie, and a young man he had never seen before. Said man stood, back rigidly straight as though he was nervous. 

"Hey, Allen, how're you doing today?" Barry smiled, leaning forward on the counter.

"Can't complain, Julian and I are finally going out again tonight. I've barely seen him since he started working for CCPD," he shrugged, fussing with a plate beside him, "no Jesse today?" Harry shook his head, already pulling his wallet out.

"She's made friends with a girl in her class who invited her over to play soccer and have dinner. Just a Flash and blueberry muffin today." Barry nodded towards the shorter boy beside him.

"Alright, Cisco, can you get the Flash?" He blinked for a moment before nodding his head at Barry.

"Uh... yeah. Flash. I can do a Flash. Totally." Harrison and Barry stood in silence as Cisco fumbled around, grabbing a mug and putting it down before picking up the same one, looking around quickly, and going to a machine Harrison had never seen them use for one of his drinks. The girl, probably-but-maybe-not-Sadie, sighed before walking him through how to make the drink. With a smile, Barry turned back to Harrison.

"Sorry, this is his first shift. And he's kinda just... like that." Barry chuckled, nose scrunching up. Harrison felt the corner of his lips lift up as he noticed the Star Wars scrunchie pulling the man's hair away from his face. 

"I'm sure he'll do just fine. Or not." Barry placed a muffin on Harrison's plate, putting a small square of whatever he had made that day beside it as the shorter barista, Cisco, Harrison had to remind himself, walked up very slowly, holding the drink far out in front of him. 

"Thank you." Harrison watched as the man broke out into a toothy grin before turning back to the mess he had created near the coffee pots. Harrison made sure to drop a five in the tip jar before heading back to his table.

-

The next time Harrison went into Jitters, he was in a much worse mood. It was Tess' weekend with Jesse, which meant there had been a big fuss right after school when Jesse realized. It wasn't fair to her that she had to go to Tess' every other weekend when the woman was barely a part of her life, but Harrison was still trying to fight for full custody. Being a father wanting single custody was harder than a mother wanting full custody, and Harrison had gone into the legal battle knowing that, but it was truly a bane.

He had had to kick a student out of the classroom today after he had tried to electrocute another student with a machine that had been brought in for a demonstration, and then had to deal with an angry parent from another class who blamed him for her son's failing grade. Just when he didn't think his day could get worse, he realized he had locked his keys in his car in the morning, and had to call and wait for AAA, which meant that he was late to pick up and drop off Jesse, giving Tess something to argue with him about.

Overall, shit day. So when Harrison walked into Jitters to see Barry and Cisco obviously overwhelmed by the sheer amount of customers, he was more than a little frustrated. He didn't feel like he could just leave his stuff at a table while he got coffee, as there were too many customers, so he went to the back of the line and flicked through the CNN website, reading the blurbs of articles until he got to the front of the line. 

Cisco was running the till, Barry moving at astounding speeds behind him, trying to get all the orders out. Cisco, though he seemed a little panicky, still had a soft smile on his face.

"Hey, you're Harry, right?" Harrison felt himself cringe.

"It's Harrison."

"Alright, Harry, what can I get for you?" He was surprisingly chipper despite their surroundings, which peeved Harrison for a reason he couldn't explain.

"Can you handle a Flash?" The smile dropped off of the shorter man's face, and Harrison couldn't help feeling just a bit guilty.

"Can I handle- I don't know, can you handle a Flash?" Cisco crossed his arms over his chest, a move that would have probably looked a little more intimidating if the man wasn't wearing a Scooby Doo tee shirt tucked into his apron. 

"Yes, I can, now if I could just get my coffee, I'll be on my merry way." Harrison rolled his eyes, dropping a couple of bills on the counter. He watched as Cisco put the cash into the register, dumping the change into the tip jar rather than Harrison's outstretched hand. He raised an eyebrow at the man, but he already seemed busy scribbling on the side of a to-go up.

When Harrison got his drink a few minutes later, written in messy scrawl was "yer a dick, harry" with a grotesque sad face under it. 

-

He felt guilty the next time he went in. The Cafe was nearly empty, and Caitlin and Cisco were both lazily wiping the counter, talking across it to Barry, who was dressed in street clothes. Beside Harrison, Jesse squeaked before running at full blast to Barry, only skidding to a stop about a foot away from him.

"Barry! Hi! 'Member those cookies you made last week? They were really good!" Barry, ever the beanpole, squatted down beside her.

"You really liked them?" She nodded her head up and down so violently that Harrison was almost worried she'd give herself a concussion. Barry laughed, holding his hand out for a high five. Harrison watched with a small smile. Caitlin leaned over the counter.

"Jesse! Hey!" Jesse turned quickly on her heel to look at Caitlin, smiling big when she saw her.

"Cait! Do you have a sticker today?" She walked up to the counter, her little hands barely reaching the top. Caitlin, seeming to be giddy, slid a sticker with a Disney princess into her hand. Harrison walked up behind her, ignoring Cisco's intense stare. Jesse whipped around once more, holding the sticker up so he could see.

"It's Moana!" Harrison smiled down at her, watching as she pulled her lunchbox out of her backpack, sticking the picture on. Caitlin made her way over to the till.

"Are we feeling chocolate milk or white milk today?" Jesse looked up at Harrison and he shrugged down at her, wanting her to pick for herself.

"White please!" She looked through the glass pastry case as Harrison ordered.

"Can I get a Flash and two white chip macadamia cookies?" Caitlin nodded, long tails tapping the screen with a satisfying click. Cisco quickly began on the order, pausing when he placed the plate of two cookies on the counter.

"Look, Harry, about last time-" Harrison put his hand up, and surprisingly, Cisco fell silent.

"It's Harrison. And we all have days like that, manbun." Harrison passed the plate down to Jesse, who took off towards their usual table with both hands clasped tight around the ceramic. Cisco raised an eyebrow, an amused look on his face.

"Manbun, huh?"

"Cisco seems too informal." Harrison tried to smile at him, but knew that he often looked a little intimidating when he did. If Cisco noticed, he didn't say anything.

-

On Harrison's next visit to the cafe, Cisco was the only one there. Or, rather, he was the only one working, as Caitlin had abandoned her post to sit with a pretty girl that Harrison had seen many times in Jitters, and Barry could be heard humming from the kitchen, the faint sound of the Hamilton soundtrack accompanying him. Cisco had ditched the bun, long hair curling around his face, bouncing just off his shoulders. Harrison was tempted to ask what conditioner he used, his hair looked absolutely beautiful. He caught himself before he allowed himself to think about running his fingers through it. 

"Hey Harry." Cisco grinned at him, as if he knew it would piss him off to hear the nickname.

"Harrison. Hello, Pikachu." Cisco blinked at him for a moment.

"Pikachu?"

"Look down at your shirt, smartass." Harrison coughed, trying to cover the grin rising to his face as Cisco did so, obvious clarity on his face when he realized.

"Oh, I guess I didn't think a boomer like you would know what a Pikachu is. You look like you'd call them Pocket Monsters." Cisco laughed slightly at his own joke, and a warm feeling rose in Harrison's chest. He looked away.

"That's nice coming from someone that looks like they walked out of a cartoon." Cisco turned to start making Harry's drink despite him not ordering yet.

"I'll have you know I take that as a compliment."

"Of course you do." Cisco let out an honest to God giggle, setting down the Flash on the counter.

"I don't know what you eat, yet." Harrison looked over at the pastries before just passing Cisco a five.

"I'm good. Keep the change."

-

Harrison couldn't help his disappointment when he walked into Jitters to see Barry and hopefully-maybe-Sadie behind the bar. Barry waved at him when he walked in despite Harrison only being second in line, behind the dark-skinned girl that he saw Caitlin with. He mindlessly scrolled through his Facebook as Barry and the woman spoke, obviously knowing each other well. Harrison wouldn't say he's a fan of gossip, but Caitlin was one of very few people he spoke to that wasn't a co-worker or the parent of Jesse's friends, so when the girl left, he was eager to find out more about her.

"Hello, Allen. Life's treating you well, I presume?" Barry laughed before nodding.

"That it is." Harrison nodded towards the woman, the glass door closing behind her.

"Who is that? Not to be nosy, but I've seen her around Caitlin a lot." Barry grinned at him, leaning his towering figure on the counter casually. Harrison would never get used to how fucking tall the kid looked for him to be so wiry. 

"That's Iris. She's my sister and Caitlin's something. I don't think they have a name for it yet." Harrison looked out the door again and back at Barry.

"Sister?" Barry chuckled.

"I'm adopted. If I wasn't, I think I would have a lot of explaining to do," Barry let out a soft sigh "all of us here are pretty wrapped up in each other's lives, I guess. I mean, at least all of us that you see, assuming you only really come in after school and some Saturdays."

Harrison nodded, leaning his hip against the counter. "I've never come in without one of you being here. You or Caitlin, I mean. Or... Sadie?" The girl looked his way, and he could clearly see her silver nametag under the lights reading 'Sandy.' "Shit." She shrugged at him. Harrison nodded at Barry. "So you're all close?"

"Yeah. Caitlin and I met while she was in pre health and I was still undeclared sciences, she was dating Julian back then and I introduced her to Iris. Julian was Cisco's RA at the time so we met and became room mates right after his left," at Harrison's confused look, Barry elaborated "Cisco and him had like a fling but the guy insisted he was straight and so he moved out. I had been living alone because my room mate dropped out, so it worked out well." 

"It must be nice to have so many of you working together, then."

"It is. Iris worked here while she was getting her degree and got my foot in the door, and Caitlin and Cisco ended up following. Cisco had been working on campus before but wanted a change. Julian only lasted three days before he quit. He's not meant to work with people." Harrison nodded, thinking back to the rather harsh British man he had spoken to only a handful of times.

"Yes, I can see that." 

The conversation broke off as a group of teenage girls walked in rather loudly, and Harrison quickly got his coffee, settling down in his usual table. He pulled out his latest stack of tests and pulled up the answer key on his laptop, huffing as he began to work. He only got through four tests before he heard a voice from behind him.

"So that's why you're always here." Harrison turned to the source, finding Cisco standing just behind him, his apron folded over his arm. 

"And why are you here?"

"I have a shift in half an hour, thank you very much."

"I meant right behind me, Ramon." The younger man's eyebrows creased, pouting his lips just a bit.

"How do you know my last name?"

"It's on your jacket, manbun." He turned back to his tests as Cisco searched his jacket for the stitching. Harrison put his pen down as the chair next to him screeched on the floor, Cisco throwing himself into the seat.

"Alright Harry, give me a marking scheme and I'll help." Harrison must have given him a strange look, as Cisco carried on. "I don't have anything else to do and I like science." Harrison shifted the laptop to be closer to the middle of the table.

"Thank you." Cisco nodded, taking one of Harrison's red pens out of the pouch of his bag.

"Any time."

-

Cisco was already sitting at Harrison's table when he showed up, the younger man's head in his hands, body tense. Harrison looked towards Caitlin behind the bar, who had a worried look on her face as she nodded towards Cisco. Harrison knealt down beside Jesse, who remained oblivious to the situation.

"Hey, Jess, you're gonna head over to Cait, okay? She'll find a place for you to read, daddy just needs to do something." Jesse, ever the smart little cookie, went straight to Caitlin, who quickly got her situated behind the bar. Harry trotted over to Cisco, who didn't look up from his position. He put a hand down on the younger man's shoulder, and Cisco jolted, red-rimmed eyes searching.

"Oh. Hi, Harry." Harrison sat in the spot beside him, watching as Cisco slumped towards him.

"Don't 'hi Harry' me, Ramon. What's wrong?" He slowly ran his hand over the shorter man's back, feeling how tense he was under his soft shirt.

"It's just been a bad day."

"So? Tell me about it."

"I got kicked out of a lab because I didn't have closed toed shoes on, and then somehow, the bot I've been developing for almost a year is just _gone_ from the lab, then I got a call from my parents, who I don't get along with, saying that I need to go over for dinner tomorrow to meet Dante's girlfriend, which is just going to be thrown in my face." He huffed, pushing his hair out of his face. "Oh, Francisco, why don't you ever bring anyone home? Look how beautiful she is with Dante, you're too old to be alone, hermosa."

"Are you done?"

"Am I- Harry, I've had a shitty day, and you're just asking if I'm done? Unbelievable." He pulled away, but Harrison kept his hand heavy on his back.

"Ramon, things can always go badly, but if you wallow in your little brain you're never going to see the positive side in anything. Go back to the lab with a pair of running shoes and prove to them that you deserve to be there. Make a software that can find your bot, it might be useful. Prove to your parents that you're doing well on your own, that you're a worthy young man despite not having a partner."

Cisco looked up at him, mouth pulling in a straight line, as if he didn't want to admit Harry was right. Harrison took his hand off of Cisco's back.

"You don't have feelings, but you make sense. Thanks, Harry."

"Oh I have plenty of feelings, you just don't get to see them. Now, if you excuse me, I have a daughter to tend to."

-

Exam season was hard on the teachers as well, something students never considered. Harrison had been going to Jitters almost every day just to get through the amount of work his students were handing in- both culminating projects and extremely late work from over the semester. Cisco had taken to joining him on breaks, or coming early before a shift. Harrison smiled as he walked through the door, his bag heavy on his shoulder. Cisco was already at the table, two cups of coffee in front of him. He was talking to Julian and Caitlin, seeming to bicker.

"No, no, I don't understand why you'd think that. What does the government get out of knowing your shopping list?" Julian had his arms crossed over his chest, and Cisco made a loud noise.

"It's listening all the time, I'm sure of it! The American government wants to know everything about us." Cisco's eyes brightened as he saw Harrison approaching. "Harry! What's your opinion on Google Home and Alexa?"

"Keep it away from me. My sister got me one for Christmas and I threw it away. Useless piece of shit." He shook his head, sitting down. Julian scoffed, and Caitlin nodded at him.

"Things don't work here the way they did in Britain, Julian."

"I bloody well know that, Snow." He huffed, checking his watch. "I have a date with a very tall piece of ass I'd rather not be late for. _Ciao_." Caitlin raised her eyebrow at him, watching as he stalked off.

"How did you ever date that guy, Cait?" Cisco took a sip of his coffee, and she shook her head.

"Don't remind me." She gave Harry a small wave before heading back to the bar. Cisco clapped his hands together, holding them outstretched.

"Lay the papers on me." Harrison chuckled, handing over a stack of essays.

"I don't see what you get out of doing this, Ramon."

"Are you kidding me? Some of these kids have interesting theories. Plus, you're a sucker for buying me snacks." Cisco opened the first essay, and Harrison dropped a pack of gum on the sheet. "Oh, mama mia, Harry, you're the best."

"So I'm told." He pulled his laptop out, putting it on an angle so he could still see Cisco's concentrated face. His hair fell around his shoulders, natural, loose curls framing his face. Cisco moved his lips as he read, and Harrison looked away, focusing on writing his exams.

-

The first time they met outside of the cafe was the bookstore across the street. They hadn't planned it, Harry was in looking for the next novel in a series he liked, and Cisco was perusing the comics. Harry ran his finger over the spine of the novels on the row, squinting at the titles when he heard a voice from behind him.

"Of course you read those." Harrison chuckled, continuing to face the books as he spoke.

"They're good novels, Ramon." He turned, leaning against the shelf. He felt a flutter in his chest when he took in Cisco's appearance, the young man wearing a pair of maroon pants that hugged his ass, a short-sleeved button up tucked into it.

"Are you checking me out, Harry?"

"That would imply that there is something there to check out." Cisco crossed his arms over his chest, his basket of books swinging as he did so. 

"That series is garbage, though. The continuity of the characters doesn't exist, and it's obvious they stole plots from Arthur Conan Doyle's books."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Cisco, he did not-"

"You called me Cisco! Ha!" The shorter man smiled, biting his bottom lip. Harry shook his head at him, smiling. 

"Are you on break? You're well put together." Cisco looked down at himself for a moment before looking up, shaking his head.

"No, I've got a date! Speaking of which, I'll be late if I don't go quickly. See ya, Harry!" Harry waved him off, leaving his hand up as he watched Cisco retreat. He ran his hand through his hair, looking down at the book in his hand. He put it back on the shelf, ignoring the feeling in his gut as he walked towards the comic books.

-

"You're sulking." Caitlin handed him his coffee, eyebrow raised at him.

"No, I'm not." Harrison scrunched his face up, taking the warm mug from her. She sat in the chair across from him, still in eye line of the bar if any of the few customers needed anything.

"Harry, you bought a biscotti just to break it apart." She motioned to the crumb covered white plate.

"I thought you'd rather me do that than throw it at the wall." He dug his fingers into the remaining edge of the bread, flaking off more bits.

"Barry would be devastated if he saw you doing this."

"Let Allen suffer. Misery truly does love company." He didn't know why seeing Cisco dressed up for a date was pissing him off so much. Maybe it was that he felt like he was close enough to Cisco that the man would have told him about the date. Maybe it was... the other thing.

Harry didn't have a name for his sexuality. In the four minutes of research he had done into the topic, he had found the words 'bisexual' and 'demisexual' and decided he fell somewhere in that realm somewhere. He didn't regularly concern himself with ideas of dating or romance, his life busy as it was with Jesse and school and court, but there was something that was stirring inside of him.

Cisco was so full of life. So youthful, yet mature. An extremely intelligent idiot. And he was holding Harry's heart, whether he knew it or not.

-

The date had gone poorly, or so Caitlin had told him. 

-

Cisco was drooling on the table, body slack against it when Harry brought Jesse the next time. Barry pointed Cisco out to Harrison when they were at the counter, and Harry left Jesse talking to the younger man about her science project while he made his way over.

"Ramon. Hey." Harry put his hand on Cisco's shoulder, jostling his body slightly. A stream of Spanish fluttered out of Cisco's mouth, the man still refusing to open his eyes. "Ramon."

"Harry?" Another slur of Spanish flooded out.

"Yes, Ramon. Get up." Harry kept his hand on Cisco, gently rubbing his fingers. Cisco took a moment to pull his head off of the table before he blinked a few times, blurry eyes looking at Harry.

"Hey. Sorry, didn't sleep last night. Jackass lab partner kept me up." He reached for his coffee, and Harry slid it closer to him, the younger man taking the brown mug with both hands.

"Do you want another one? Jesse and I haven't ordered."

"No, I'll get out of your hair if Jesse's here." Cisco stood up, swaying slightly. Harry pushed him back into the chair as gently as he could, puffing his cheeks as he sat back down.

"You stay here, Ramon. Jesse likes you." The 'I like you' was unsaid. Cisco nodded, and Harry dropped his hand, going to order. 

-

Jesse and Harry had been alone for so long it felt strange to have a third, even if Cisco wasn't really anything but a friend to Harry. The three of them would get coffee together (hot chocolate, in Jesse's case), Cisco would help her with homework, and Harry would do the same for Cisco. They went to the book store together every few weeks, the adults judging each other's choices as Jesse picked out her next reads. It was nice. It was comforting.

Until Harry fucked it up.

-

He had never understood the concept of Pride Month. He was queer all year round, why celebrate a month in particular? He had never been exposed to queer history, nor theology, simply because he did not care to be. He had always felt steady in his sexuality, and that was enough. He walked into Jitters on a Thursday, the first of June, to find the cafe decked out accordingly. Rainbow rolled streamers on the walls, a pride flag hanging off the till, where Cisco stood.

Barry, bustling around with his pastries behind the bar, had a bisexual pride flag pinned on his apron just below his name tag. He bumped into Cisco, and Cisco turned towards Harry, waving at him. Pinned just over his heart was a flag Harry hadn't seen.

"'Morning, Harry! It better be a cold drink today, it's too hot for me to want to make you a Flash."

"You get paid to make me my drinks, Ramon."

"Not the principal, Harry." Cisco gestured to a small menu stand. "We have Pride drinks this month!" Harry looked them over, nose scrunching up.

"They're all too sweet. Coffee is meant to be bitter."

"You're bitter." Harry rose an eyebrow, and Cisco chuckled at him. Harry gestured to the pin on Cisco's chest.

"What does that mean?"

"It's the pan flag."

"The pan flag?" Cisco nodded at him, eyebrows creasing together.

"Yeah. I'm pansexual." Harry blinked, drawing a blank on what that meant. Maybe he really should have paid more attention to that sexuality website he had searched up.

"Oh. I'm not aware of these new sexualities." Cisco took a sharp breath in, body rigid and stiff. He didn't meet Harry's eyes.

"What?"

"It used to be more simple, I've never heard of most of what people come up with now."

"Leave." Cisco's gaze was directed towards the counter.

"Ramon, what-"

"Now, Harry! God!" Cisco hissed, turning quickly on his heels. Despite Harry's better interests, he obeyed.

-

He didn't go back to Jitters until Jesse asked to. Harry was afraid to face Cisco after what happened, especially after searching what 'pansexual' meant, and finding that word fit him better than 'bisexual'. He quietly bought himself a pansexual pin, as well as a demisexual pin during Central's pride festival. Jesse asked to go to Jitters closer to the end of the month, and with a nervous, jittery feeling in his stomach, Harry attached the pins to his shoulder bag and brought her.

The cafe was quiet at three, with only Caitlin working the counter, though Harry could hear Les Mis streaming out of the kitchen, a surefire sign Barry was in the building. Caitlin smiled and waved when they walked in, a tiny rainbow pin attached to the lapel of her shirt. Jesse let go of Harry's hand, rushing towards the counter to talk to her. Harrison hung back further, letting them have their sticker exchange, watching fondly as his daughter acted so mature for her age. When she waved him over, he approached. 

He ordered for the two of them, coffee and milk, two cookies, and watched as Jesse made her way over to his usual table, holding the cookie plate in two hands, watching them instead of looking ahead of herself. Caitlin leaned forward on the counter. 

"I need to talk to you."

"No you don't." Harry scowled, drawing his lips in a tight line. 

"It's about Cisco."

"I figured so much."

"What you said about-"

"I know. I was uneducated and I hurt him." Harry picked at a napkin on the counter. "I shouldn't have said that, but I did. And now Ramon is angry with me."

"His family doesn't support him. They want him to marry a woman so bad, but... He's got his eye on a guy and I think you freaked him out." She sighed, fiddling with the ties on her apron. "He's in tomorrow at three." Harry nodded, and she slid the drinks over to him. With a sharp gaze, she looked him up and down. "You better be there."

-

Harry had arrived at Jitters at two, ordered an iced coffee, and sat down at his table, waiting. He made sure the pins on his bag were on display, facing out into the cafe, and opened his book, the light novel of a manga Cisco had told him about. The book was good, more simplistic than anything he typically read, but the interactions between characters had him hooked already. Harry lost track of time, only coming to when his chair moved a few inches after being kicked by an unhappy looking Cisco.

"Harry. I didn't think you came here anymore." His eyes wandered down to the bag on the other chair, eyebrows creasing when he saw the pins.

"Yeah, well, there were some things I missed about it." Harry folded the corner of his page and put the book on the table.

"Uh-uh. Hell no, there is no way you're dog earring your books around me, you heathen. Get a book mark." Cisco reached over Harry, long hair hiding his face as he slid Harry's napkin into the book, holding the spot.

"I missed you." The words spilled out of Harry's mouth before he knew they were coming. Cisco pulled away from him.

"You could have apologized."

"I-Ramon, I'm not good at-" he waved his hands in front of him"-that."

"I'm aware of that." Cisco crossed his arms over his chest, and nodded down at the bag.

"I looked it up after. I am, too." Harrison felt as though he shouldn't have put them on the bag, with the look that Cisco was giving him.

"You are?"

"Yes. I've never given much thought to the gender of who I'm with." He moved the bag off of the chair and onto the floor behind him. "Sit."

"Yeah, okay."

"I didn't mean to say anything to... upset you, Ramon. I say things." Cisco snorted, nodding at him.

"Yeah you do. But, like, don't be a dick."

"I'll try my best."

-

Things didn't go back to normal, but that was okay. It was better than okay for Harry, as Cisco and him had started talking more, his classes finished for the summer. They began going places together, the museum, the farmer's market, Cisco even managed to drag Harry to an anime convention in Keystone. 

Cisco had grabbed Harry's hand when they got to the market, swinging their arms slightly between them. Harry never minded, nor did he question, Cisco holding his hand. Cisco was always touchy, ever since they had met. Leaning on him, linking their arms, whatever he needed. With anyone else, Harry would have addressed the behavior, but it was so easy and...nice with Cisco. In a way, Harry felt guilty for it, like he was abusing Cisco's naturally warm demeanor with his crush. 

"Honey!"

"Yeah?"

"No, Harry, I mean, they have a honey stand!" Harry blushed up to his ears, Cisco pulling him to the small stand with straight lines of jars. The woman offered them each samples, Cisco chatting with her as Harry stood idly by, looking at the products. Cisco squeezed his hand, and he looked up to see Cisco's face, obviously waiting for an answer. 

"What?"

"What one do you like best? She's doing buy two get one free."

"Ramon, just get three you like."

"C'mon, Harry, let me spoil you for once." The woman smiled at them warmly.

"You two are really cute." She started bagging Cisco's jars, including the one Harry had spent the most time sampling. Cisco blinked.

"Oh, we're not-"

"No, we are not a-" They looked at each other, and Cisco dropped his hand.

"I'm sorry! You seem like it!" She shook her head, red faced. "You just remind me of my sister and her girlfriend! The whole 'tall grump-short sunshine' thing!"

"I'm not a grump."

"I'm five seven!"

"I'm sorry!" She handed Cisco the bag, and they walked away together, a good two feet of space between them. 

-

"Should we talk about that?" Cisco swirled his lemonade with the paper straw. The restaurant they were on the patio of was rather busy inside, but the heat made most people wary of the outdoor seating, unlike them. Harrison shrugged his shoulders, taking a sip of his own drink.

"What's there to talk about? She thought we were a couple, we're not, end of story."

"Not end of story, Harry! I mean... Is there something there?" He waved his hand between them. Harrison's heart felt heavy in his chest.

"Wh- Ramon, what do you mean?"

"What I mean is that these...outings we've been going on feel an awful lot like dates. And I think I'd like them to be." Cisco avoided looking at him, and Harrison sighed slightly.

"Ramon, I'd like that too." Cisco's head perked up. "But I have Jesse and I'm older than you and I don't want you to give up your youth."

"Okay, first of all, you're eight years older. It's not like you're robbing the cradle, Harry. I'm a grad student, I'm not exactly a kid. There's no difference between you hanging out with a twenty four year old and you dating a twenty four year old, not really. And... She's your daughter. She's included in the deal, I get that. It's up to you if you want me in your kid's life but... I'd like to be."

-

They walked into Jitters hand in hand the next time Harry went. Behind the counter, Caitlin squealed, reaching over the bar to tap Iris's arm, pointing at them. 

"Took you long enough, Cisco. I thought I was going to have to intervene."

"Yeah? And what were you going to do, Iris?"

"Intervene." She raised an eyebrow, walking away from the bar. Cisco squeezed his hand slightly.

"Dios Mio, that woman will be the end of me one day." Harrison chuckled, and squeezed his hand back. They ordered quickly from Caitlin, bickering about who was going to pay until Caitlin pressed her debit card down on the interact machine, trying to clear the way for customers behind them. They moved to a table, talking quietly until Barry came over, bringing a plate of baked goods, saying that it was a new recipe he wanted to try. They looked suspiciously like things Barry had made Harry before, the favourites of different batches.

Cisco smiled around the nanaimo bar, Harry watching him fondly.

"Damn, they do desserts good in Canada."

"The only good thing that comes from there."

"Uh? Poutine? Think before you talk, Harry, God." Harrison chuckled, shaking his head at the younger man. 

-

Jitters had been Harry's favourite coffee shop for a few reasons. The quiet, the prices, the good food, the good company. When Harrison went in to see his smiling boy behind the counter, he had a new reason.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! if you liked it, feel free to leave a kudo and please leave a comment!  
> tumblr - violetteatime  
> xx hollasky  
> edit: just re read this and??? I simply Do Not like it.


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